This article originally appeared in the March 12, 2018 issue of SpaceNews magazine. The world’s biggest, best established satellite operators talk of broadband as an enormously lucrative opportunity. But in truth, nothing is causing them more frustration. Demand for ever-faster broadband internet connections is maxing out today’s satellites, setting off an industry-wide stampede toward increasingly powerful high-throughput satellites (HTS). While that might sound like a good thing, the rush to HTS is driving down bandwidth prices so fast that some fairly low-mileage satellites are struggling to keep up. Seasoned operators,…

WASHINGTON — If satellite constellations are to fulfill their promise of offering global communications services, they will need key technologies including low-cost antennas and laser cross-links, according to speakers at the Satellite 2018 conference here. “You’ve got to have ground antennas that are agile, affordable and can be produce in quantity,” said Erwin Hudson, Telesat Canada’s vice president for the Telesat LEO broadband constellation. Those antennas are on the horizon, he added, thanks in part to the investment of terrestrial communications companies in 5G networks. “We were upset when the…

WASHINGTON — In a surprise shift, Eutelsat Communications, a staunch defender of geostationary satellites as the way forward, on March 8 said it is buying a low Earth orbit (LEO) demonstration nanosatellite. Another new entrant to LEO, Australia- and New Zealand-focused Optus Satellite is joining Canadian fleet operator Telesat in testing its LEO prototype satellite that launched in January. Paris-based Eutelsat and Optus bring to eight the number of geostationary satellite operators that are openly investing in, building, or partnering with non-geostationary satellite ventures, joining Intelsat, SES, Telesat, Sky Perfect Jsat,…

WASHINGTON — Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said his company has refrained from running headlong with other fleet operators in adding new telecom satellites over areas now burdened by an oversupply of capacity. That glut of satellite capacity in Asia, Africa and Latin America puts pressure on fleet operators to consolidate, but the industry shouldn’t look to Telesat to initiate any mergers or acquisitions, he said. Goldberg said Telesat is focusing instead on deploying a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which would be differentiated from other systems…

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The Canadian government will support the development of low-Earth-orbit satellites that can bring internet services to rural parts of the country. Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced a 100 million Canadian dollars ($82 million) initiative in the 2018 Canadian government budget released Feb. 27. The Liberal Party government wants to extend internet service to rural areas in the country and believes that low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites could prove to be the solution. “Networks of LEO satellites have the potential to provide Canadians living in rural and remote areas with…

TORONTO — Telesat, with one demonstration satellite for its planned broadband satellite constellation in orbit, expects to announce plans for manufacturing the full system in the coming months as it seeks partners to help fund its development. Speaking at the Canadian SmallSat Symposium here Feb. 15, Erwin Hudson, vice president of Telesat LEO, said the company was currently reviewing proposals for the 117-satellite constellation submitted by a number of major satellite manufacturers. “We’ve spent the last several months digging through” about 5,000 pages of proposal documents, he said. Those reviews…

This article originally appeared in the Jan. 15, 2018 issue of SpaceNews magazine. Suppliers of solar panels and related equipment for the space industry are pivoting to serve customers planning satellites for low and medium Earth orbits as the slow down in geostationary satellite orders persists. Commercial satellite operators ordered just seven geostationary telecommunications satellites in 2017 — well below the 20 to 25 orders considered normal in years past. Orders for 2016 and 2015 topped out in the teens (still below average, but better than last year). Space solar…

WASHINGTON — Following market approval given to OneWeb in June, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Nov. 3 granted global fleet operator Telesat permission to reach the U.S. with a constellation of 117 low-Earth orbit satellites. Competitor and partner ViaSat of Carlsbad, California, which operates geostationary satellites and is awaiting FCC approval for a medium-Earth orbit system, had urged the FCC to deny Telesat’s filing, but was largely rebuffed. Canada-based Telesat is the second LEO constellation after OneWeb to receive market access from the United States. The FCC also granted…

WASHINGTON — Canadian satellite operator Telesat says it is still reviewing Intelsat and Intel’s controversial proposal for letting terrestrial 5G networks use C-band satellite spectrum in the United States, and has yet to make a decision for or against. Telesat is one of a handful of satellite operators with meaningful C-band capacity over the U.S., having less than Intelsat and SES, but more than Eutelsat. Intelsat and Intel submitted a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission last month that would have satellite operators voluntarily move their customers either to a different…

WASHINGTON — Telesat is some three to five months ahead of OneWeb in launching low-Earth orbit telecommunications satellites, and barring a surprise launch from SpaceX, will likely be the first new mega-constellation to put hardware into operation. Two prototype satellites ordered in April 2016 are awaiting launch before year’s end — one on a Russian Soyuz and another on an an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle — paving the way for a larger constellation of over 100 small satellites. Telesat LEO is the biggest satellite project the company has undertaken in…